1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the optical representations of data contained on radio frequency identification (RFID) tag devices.
2. Background Art
Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are electronic devices that may be affixed to items whose presence is to be detected and/or monitored. The presence of an RFID tag, and therefore the presence of the item to which the tag is affixed, may be checked and monitored by devices known as “readers.” Readers typically transmit radio frequency signals to which the tags respond. Each tag can store a unique identification number. The tags respond to the reader transmitted read signals by providing their identification number, bit-by-bit, so that they can be identified.
Tags sometimes fail to respond to read requests for various reasons, including defects or damage to the tags, defects or damage to the reader, environmental reasons, etc. In such situations, it may be necessary for a human operator to hand-enter data printed on the failed tag into a system so that the tag can be identified. However, such a backup system for failed reads of tags is inefficient. Other backup systems may rely on a barcode containing the tag identification data. For example, the full serialized identifier provided by an Electronic Product Code (EPC) RFID tag requires more than 30 digits to be hand-entered or encoded onto a 1D or 2D barcode. Such barcodes are expensive and time consuming to print on demand and occupy a significant amount of space on the tag or tagged item.
Thus, what is needed is a cheaper, faster, more efficient, and reliable backup identification system for failed tags.